Charles Trent Limited, one of the UK’s longest-established and most progressive vehicle recycling businesses, has been appointed as an exclusive, long-term partner to manage the recycling of BMW Group end-of-life vehicles in the UK.
The partnership covers BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, and reflects a shared commitment to quality, compliance, environmental responsibility and innovation within the automotive recycling sector. Under the agreement, Charles Trent will manage a range of end-of-life vehicles on behalf of BMW UK, with the partnership firmly centred on standards, traceability and confi dence. BMW selected Charles Trent based on its proven ability to manage complex vehicles responsibly and securely, while meeting the expectations of a premium manufacturer.
With nearly a century of experience and four generations of family ownership, Charles Trent has invested heavily in technology, process and infrastructure to support the evolving needs of manufacturers, insurers and repair networks. This includes specialist capability for handling electrifi ed vehicles, with established high-voltage safety procedures, battery removal processes, secure storage, and fully compliant downstream recycling aligned with both manufacturer and regulatory requirements.
The business operates the UK’s only reverse production line, a structured, data-led approach to dismantling and processing vehicles that mirrors the consistency of automotive manufacturing. This £35 million investment facility manages depollution, dismantling, quality control, parts recovery, and final material processing, ensuring every vehicle follows a documented journey with consistency, traceability, and control.
Beyond its current operations, Charles Trent holds intellectual property for designing and operating purpose-built facilities to manage end-of-life vehicle volumes at a national scale. These facilities are designed to support throughput of up to approximately 50,000 vehicles per site, operating to standardised, auditable processes that ensure consistency, traceability and compliance across every vehicle handled.
This approach, combined with ISO-certifi ed systems, renewable energy use and advanced digital capabilities, provides manufacturers with assurance that vehicles are handled safely, compliantly and transparently at every stage of their lifecycle.
Commenting on the partnership, Neil Joslin, Chief Operating Offi cer at Charles Trent Limited, said:
“We’re delighted to be working with the team at BMW UK. Partnering with such a prestigious vehicle manufacturer really refl ects the standards that we operate to, and we’re thrilled to accept the faith and confi dence BMW has placed in us. We’ve already built a great level of trust, understanding and respect for each other’s expertise, and look forward to building upon this in the years to come as we learn, adapt and innovate together.”
BMW’s decision to appoint Charles Trent as an exclusive partner underscores the growing importance of responsible end-of-life vehicle management, particularly as vehicles become more complex, electrifi ed and data-rich. The partnership also aligns closely with the direction of travel in UK and European end-of-life vehicle regulation, where traceability, governance and full lifecycle accountability are becoming increasingly central.
Beyond secure vehicle handling, Charles Trent plays an active role in supporting the circular economy by recovering and reintroducing quality green parts where appropriate and recycling over 96% of every vehicle by weight. Its operations are powered in part by on-site solar generation, with renewable energy used across dismantling, warehousing and material processing.
For manufacturers, the partnership demonstrates how end-of-life vehicles can be managed not simply as waste, but as a strategic responsibility aligned with sustainability goals, brand protection and regulatory compliance.
This is about setting the standard for how end-of-life vehicles are handled in the next decade.
